5 teams Cristiano Ronaldo has scored the most goals against
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players to ever play the sport. The Portugal sensation has played for some of the biggest teams, dropped astounding performances, and won the most coveted accolades, etching his name in history.
Cristiano Ronaldo started his career at Portuguese club Sporting CP. In 2003, Ronaldo was recruited by Manchester United, where, under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson, he became one of the game’s greatest champions. He won his first Ballon d’Or and UEFA Champions League in 2008, a year before he made the switch to Real Madrid.
At Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo went from being a nimble-footed left-winger to a ruthless goalscorer. During his nine-year stay at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Ronaldo scored a whopping 450 goals in 438 games in all competitions. His exploits in front of goal helped Real Madrid to four Champions League trophies and won him four Ballon d’Or awards.
Between 2018 and 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo was at Juventus. He could not win them the Champions League trophy, but he ended up bagging a couple of Serie A titles during his spell in Turin. In the summer of 2021, the 38-year-old returned to Manchester United for a second spell.
In his re-debut season, Ronaldo finished as the team’s leading scorer with 24 goals in 38 games across competitions, but things took a turn for the worse in the second. The superstar fell out with Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag and left the club as a free agent in November by mutual consent. Currently plying his trade at Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo is eager to leave his footprint in Asia.
Since his debut in Sporting, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a whopping 702 goals in 952 games across all clubs, emerging as the top scorer in men’s football history. Today, we will take a look at the top five teams he has enjoyed playing the most against. Now, without further ado, let’s check out the five clubs that have conceded the highest number of goals against the phenomenon:
#5 Celta Vigo
Ronaldo has played only 13 games against La Liga outfit Celta Vigo in his career but has hit the back of the net 20 times. As a Real Madrid player, Ronaldo scored three hat-tricks against Celta, twice in La Liga and once in the Copa del Rey.
Cristiano Ronaldo faced Celta nine times in La Liga and four times in the Copa del Rey. In the Spanish top flight, Real Madrid's all-time top scorer scored 15 times, winning eight matches and drawing once. In the Spanish cup, he scored five times in four games but won only once. He lost twice and drew once.
#4 Barcelona
Real Madrid’s greatest foes Barcelona have crossed Cristiano Ronaldo’s path a whopping 34 times in his career. The Portugal icon has thus far scored 20 goals against them across competitions.
Ronaldo has faced Barcelona six times in the Champions League; thrice as a Manchester United player, twice in Real Madrid’s colors, and once representing Juventus. He failed to score in any of the three matches for United, winning the 2007-08 semi-final on aggregate (1-0) and losing the 2008-09 final (2-0). At Madrid, he lost the 2010-11 Champions League semi-final 3-1 on aggregate, once again without scoring.
His only two Champions League goals against Barcelona came for Juventus in the group stage of the 2020-21 season. His exploits propelled the Bianconeri to a 3-0 win at Camp Nou.
As a Real Madrid player, Ronaldo faced Barcelona 18 times in the Liga, five times in the Copa del Rey, and five more times in the Spanish Super Cup. He scored nine goals in those 18 La Liga games, losing 10 games, drawing four times, and winning on four occasions. In the Spanish Cup, he scored five, winning twice, losing once, and drawing twice.
Finally, in the Super Cup, he scored four goals in five games, winning twice, drawing once, and losing twice.
#3 Getafe
Cristiano Ronaldo has so far faced La Liga outfit Getafe 14 times in his career, scoring 23 times, emerging victorious 13 times, and losing only once. All of Madrid’s meetings with Getafe during Ronaldo’s stay came in La Liga.
In only 14 games, Ronaldo scored three hat-tricks against Getafe. His first came on matchday 36 of the 2010-11 La Liga season. It propelled Madrid to a 4-0 victory. His second came on matchday 21 of the 2012-13 season. Madrid, once again, won the game 4-0. Ronaldo’s third hat trick came in a 7-3 drubbing of Getafe on the final matchday of the 2014-15 season.
#2 Atletico Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo has faced Atletico Madrid 37 times in his career, racking up an impressive 25 goals against them.
Ronaldo faced Real Madrid’s crosstown rivals 12 times in the Champions League, six times as a Real Madrid player, four times representing Juventus, and twice wearing Manchester United’s colors. For Real Madrid, Ronaldo scored four goals in six games, including a hat-trick in the 2016-17 Champions League semi-final. He won two Champions League finals (2013-14, 2015-16) at their expense.
At Juventus, he scored three against them in four games, with all the goals coming in the second leg of the Round-of-16 tie in the 2018-19 season. His heroics took Juventus to a 3-2 aggregate win. Ronaldo could not score for Manchester United in the 2021-22 Round-of-16 tie against Atletico, with the Red Devils crashing out following a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
In La Liga, Ronaldo faced Atletico 16 times, scoring 12 goals, winning seven games, and losing four times. The Madrid rivals played out five draws. In the Spanish Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo scored six goals in seven games, winning four games (one draw, two defeats). He failed to hit the back of the net in either of their Spanish SuperCup meetings.
#1 Sevilla
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 27 goals against Sevilla in only 18 games in his career, making them his favorite prey. Ronaldo has scored five hat-tricks against the Andalusian outfit, with all of his trebles coming in La Liga.
During his nine-year stint at Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo faced Sevilla 15 times in La Liga, once in the UEFA SuperCup, and twice in the Copa del Rey. In 15 La Liga matches, Ronaldo scored 25 goals, winning 11 games and losing four.
His other two goals against Sevilla came in the UEFA SuperCup clash in the 2014-15 season. Cristiano Ronaldo’s brace propelled Los Merengues to a 2-0 victory. Ronaldo failed to find the back of the net as Madrid beat Sevilla 3-0 (on aggregate) in the 2010-11 Copa del Rey semi-finals.